One woman dies every week at the hands of their partner in Australia. It’s a phrase we hear often; as if it is a pandemic. It’s a phrase that says, ‘Hey! If you see a man today, please remind him not to kill his partner. Because after all, if you don’t remind men on a daily basis to not kill their partner, they might forget and accidentally commit a horrific homicide!’ Seemingly the perpetrators of these horrific crimes aren’t aware that their actions are morally repugnant. They obviously need an awareness campaign to open their eyes. During these lectures we are told we must raise more awareness on the issue; however, we are not informed through statistics, but instead through leftist politics of division which simply pins Men and Women against each other. At what stage in this ‘raising of awareness’ do adults actually consider how other societies and cultures are performing? consider that 1 in 3 domestic violence deaths are from a woman killing a man? Or even turn the conversation to the 2.5 million Australians who report being physically or sexually abused before the age of 15, with young girls making up almost two-thirds of those. Because we certainly don’t see 1 in 3 articles not fitting the politically correct narrative.
As it currently stands, Australia has one of the lowest rates of domestic violence in the world. Yes, it is terrible that one woman dies every week by a complete psychopath. But when do we consider that there will always be people both male and female who have experienced tragic and disastrous lives, have diagnosed untreatable mental health issues, or even worse, both? Yes, the number could maybe be lower; however, there are roughly 10 million people married in Australia, along with millions more in unmarried relationships. Out of these tens of millions of people, remarkably just 52 woman and 16 men a year are killed at the hands of someone in a place so dark and helpless it’s almost unimaginable. Were these hideous crimes committed because they did not know the law? Did we not raise enough awareness?
If we take a look at other countries around the world then we start to appreciate just how safe and lucky we are in Australia. In the US state of Texas which has a similar population to Australia, a woman is murdered by their partner every second day. Canada averages almost double Australia, with less than double the population. 85% of women in Afghanistan report experiencing domestic violence. 80% in Bangladesh and In Turkey, 42% of women over 15 have suffered physical or sexual violence from their partner. Australia, although not perfect, is staggeringly low at 17% (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
Maybe it’s time to take a new approach to talking about domestic violence. One that involves action and an entirely new conversation. Because domestic violence statistics have not improved in Australia for a very long time. And I don’t think a Gillette ad is the answer.
Aidan Green is the editor of The Commentariat.